Field of Invention
The invention is a system for creation of finished beer using a unique process. This process was created to fill a need that has emerged in the craft beer industry. In 1980, there where about 100 large and small scale breweries in America. Since that time, the number of breweries in the United States has grown to more than 2000 breweries. These breweries are mostly small in scale, less than 10,000 barrels a year. This has resulted in significant changes and challenges for the continued growth and development in the beer market that our system is designed to address.
Background of the System
As micro breweries and brew pubs began to grow in numbers at greater velocity during the later half of the 1990's and 2000's so has the cost of production. The size and fixed cost of the significant space that is normally required for a small scale brewery and its inventory of raw materials is often situated in expensive retail location. When the rising cost of labor and raw materials are added to the fixed costs with a limited production capability, the costs of producing a serving of beer can force a higher market price that limits sales.
The rising cost of production is a major deterrent to the continued growth of the brewing industry in terms of new breweries opening and entering the marketplace. In the production department of small scale brewing operations, costs are often relatively high in relation to the volume of beer produced partially due to the requirement for a very high sanitary environment. Brewery equipment must be maintained in a sterile environment which necessitates the use of many chemical compounds that do not blend favorably with today's environmental policies to protect the ecosystem. In addition to the cost of wasted water consumption in the cleaning and sanitizing process, and waste disposal there is the high labor cost of maintaining favorable brewing conditions.
Even if production can be increased, another obstacle is created, namely, the three tiered system of liquor distribution in the United States that includes producers, distributors, and retailers. The basic structure of the system is that producers can sell their products only to wholesale distributors who then sell to retailers, and only retailers may sell to consumers. Producers include brewers, wine makers, distillers and importers. However, regulations vary from state to state.
The three tiered system limits sales opportunities and has resulted in fierce competition amongst the new small scale breweries for “shelf space” in the retail marketplace and “serving taps” in the food and beverage market. The marketplace demand for craft brewed beer has responded quite favorably to the wider selection of tastes and styles offered in spite of higher retail prices. However, access to these market windows is costly for the small scale brewer. This market place reality has created marketing challenges that have resulted in higher production costs for the small scale brewery because they are experiencing greater difficulties in obtaining sales volume to support cost of operations.